This application claims the priority of German patent document 102 44 314.9, filed 23 Sep. 2002, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The invention relates to a built-in ashtray for a motor vehicle. Certain preferred embodiments of the invention relate to a built-in ashtray for a motor vehicle, having a housing which has a guide by means of which an ashtray is displaceably in a drawer-type manner disposed in the housing, and having a holder for a cigarette lighter which is mounted on the ashtray so that it can be moved into an operative position projecting upward from the ashtray, the built-in ashtray having a driving device which moves the holder during the displacement of the ashtray out of the housing into the operative position upward and, during the displacement into the housing, in a downward manner, and in that, between the housing and a rearward area of the ashtray, a spring is arranged which changes the ashtray after the release of the locking from a moved-in closed position into a moved-out operative position.
A built-in ashtray of this general type is known from German Patent Document DE 196 53 302 A1. The known built-in ashtray has a housing with a guide by means of which the ashtray is slidably disposed in a drawer-type manner in the housing. The ashtray also has a holder for a cigarette lighter which is mounted on the ashtray so that it can be moved from the ashtray into an operative position projecting upward from the ashtray. The built-in ashtray is provided with a driving device which, when the ashtray is displaced out of the housing, moves the holder upward into the operative position and, when the ashtray is displaced into the housing, moves the holder downward. Furthermore, a spring is arranged between the housing and a rearward area of the ashtray, which spring, after the release of a lock, changes the ashtray from the moved-in closed position into a moved-out operative position.
So that, when the cigarette lighter is fitted into the holder, no automatic sliding of the ashtray into its closed position takes place, a locking mechanism is provided which is formed by a connecting link guide and locks the holder in its upward-projecting operative position.
It is an object of the invention to take such measures at a built-in ashtray that, when the cigarette lighter is fitted into the swiveled-up holder, an automatic sliding of the ashtray into its closed position is reliably avoided also without any special locking mechanism for the holder.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by providing a built-in astray for a motor vehicle, having a housing which has a guide by means of which an ashtray is displaceably in a drawer-type manner disposed in the housing, and having a holder for a cigarette lighter which is mounted on the ashtray so that it can be moved into an operative position projecting upward from the ashtray, the built-in ashtray having a driving device which moves the holder during the displacement of the ashtray out of the housing into the operative position upward and, during the displacement into the housing, in a downward manner, and in that, between the housing and a rearward area of the ashtray, a spring is arranged which changes the ashtray after the release of the locking from a moved-in closed position into a moved-out operative position, wherein the spring has a progressive characteristic spring curve such that the spring force, which acts upon the ashtray in its moved-out operative position and presses the ashtray toward the outside, is greater than the oppositely directed force component of the operating force acting in the plane of the spring force during the inserting or operating of the cigarette lighter.
Important advantages achieved by means of certain preferred embodiments of the invention are that, as a result of the arrangement of a progressive spring between the ashtray and the housing, an automatic sliding of the ashtray into its closed position is avoided when the cigarette lighter is fitted into the swiveled-up holder without the arrangement of a holder-side locking mechanism. A band-type flat coil spring (rolled spring) produced from thin spring band steel is preferably used as the spring in certain preferred embodiments of the invention, in which case an end-side holding section of the band-type flat coil spring is fastened to a lower housing wall, while a rolled-together area facing away from the holding section is supported on a rearward-side cage-type receiving device of the ashtray.
According to certain preferred embodiments of the invention, the progressive spring is designed such that the spring force FF acting upon the ashtray in its moved-out operative position and pressing the ashtray toward the outside is greater than the oppositely directed force component FZH of the operating force FZ acting in the plane of the spring force FF when the cigarette lighter is fitted in or operated.
As a result of the progressive design of the spring, an increased expenditure of force is required at the start of the closing operation of the ashtray. A folding-away of the holder for the cigarette lighter is thereby prevented. The progressive design of the spring is achieved according to certain preferred embodiments of the invention by a defined non-linear winding of the rolled spring; that is, in a certain area, the spring is wound more (smaller bending radius) than in another area.
A progressive spring may also be obtained according to certain preferred embodiments of the invention by the punching-out of the spring within defined areas. The spring force will then no longer act along the entire metal sheet band width.
The invention will be explained in detail in the following by means of an embodiment illustrated in the drawing.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.